Method of indexing letters



(No Model.)

J. B. NORDHEM. METHOD OF INDEXING LETTERS, &c.

No. 463,640. Patented Nov. 24, 1891.

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NITED S'rarns PAT NT Brien.

JETLEE l3 NORDHE M, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters. Patent No. 463,640, datedNovember 24, 1891.

Application filed August 23,1890. Serial No. 362,869. (No model.)

To all w/wm it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J ETLEE B. N ORDHEM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Indexing; and Idodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to printed blank forms for letter-sheets and billand invoice headings to beused separately or put up in pads or bound inbook form.

It consists, essentially, in providing the sheets of paper with aprinted heading consisting of a series of letters, figures, and lines,by means of which each sheet contains a complete index to the name ofthe writer, besides much other data useful for purposes of reference.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a printed form for myimproved letter and bill head ready for'use. Fig. 2 shows the same formfilled out as an index and for reference purposes. Fig. 3 shows theindexing feature alone.

a is a printed form inclosed within a border in the upper left-handcorner of the sheet, designated and for use as a place for thememorandum of the writer. It contains the printed words Initials ofWriter, Ap-

- proved, In Answering Refer to Press-Copy Book, and Folio, arrangedconsecutively on the left-hand side of the form, which is surrounded bya border. After each word or sentence is a blank line for the insertionof the indexing and reference matter, consisting of the initials of thewriter and approver of the communication and the book and folio in whichit is press-copied, as shown in Fig. 2. In the upper right-hand cornerof the sheet are lines o for the name and address of the firm using theletter-head, which name and address may be either written or printed onsaid lines or in the space they occupy. To the right of the name andaddress is printed in plain bold type the initial letter (shown asA inthe drawings) of the person or firm using I this form, and below thisinitial letter are numerals which indicate, respectively, the second,third, and fourth letters in said name, (Ayer in the drawing,) eachnumeral corresponding with the num ber of the place in the alphabet ofthe letter which it is designed to indicate. In this way may beindicated, if desired, all the letters in a name, though in most casesit will be sufficient for the purposes of indexing and filing toindicate by the appropriate numerals only the first three lettersfollowing the initial or first letter of the name. The lines o and theindexing. letter and numerals may be used independent of the memorandumforms.

Below the indexing letter and numerals is a blank memorandum form I),inclosed within a border and corresponding in size to the form a, butdesigned for the use of the recipient of the communication. Vithin thisform are printed consecutively the words Received, Answered, Entered,and Folio, with a blank line after each word for the insertion of thedates of reception and answer and the number of the ledger and folio.

The business card of the firm or person using my improved index-sheetmaybe printed on any part of the sheet; but it is desirable that itappear near the indexing letter and numerals.

The memorandum forms may be varied to suit different kinds of business,as I only illustrate forms found to be convenient in one kind ofbusiness.

It is my purpose to furnish these blank index-sheets to the trade, and Ido not confine myself to any particular letter or monogram, nor to anyspecial shape of blank.

The principle involved in my invention is alike applicable toletter-sheets, invoices, billheads, &c., and the printed forms may beapplied to separate sheets or be bound in bookform, or put up in pads.

The advantages in the use of this form are manifold. A file-clerk inassorting for filing and in filing a large number of letters, forinstance, can, by glancing at the upper right corner, where the initialletter is conspicuous, tell instantly under what letter of the alphabetthe communication belongs. A glance at the numerals will indicate theexact position under the initial letter, so that the communition will beplaced with others from the same party. When search is being made forthe letter some timeafter it has been filed away, the name of the writerbeing remembered, it

5 will be only necessary to find his initial letter and turn to theplace or compartment indicated by the numberof the second and thirdletters in his name, which in the case illustrated in the drawings wouldbe A255, thus making a complete and efieetive index and a rapidalphabetical file. The data for reference, which if given at allheretofore, has been unsystematically applied, is here in compact andcomplete form, and search need not be made in but one placethe head ofthe original letter or the press-copy thereof-for the informationneeded.

In'answering a communication written on one of these letter-sheets thewriter, by referring to the data in the upper left-hand corner,indicates who wrote the letter answered, who reviewed it, and where thecopy may be found, and the contents of the first each-sheet the initialletter of the person or firm using the paper, and with such letternumerals indicating in their alphabetical order two or more of theletters following the initial, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a busi ness blank form composed ofan initial letter and figures printed, embossed, or otherwisepermanently impressed on or affixed to a sheet of plain or ruled paper,said letter and figures indicating the name of the user of the blank forthe purposes of indexing and filing, as set forth.

3. Ablank letter or bill head having printed thereon the wordsMemorandum for the Writer, Initials of \Vriter, Approved, In AnsweringRefer to Press-Copy Book, and Folio, with lines for the insertion ofappropriate initials and numbers, and the words Memorandum for theRecipient, Received, Answered, Entered, and Folio, with lines for theinsertion of appropriate dates and numbers, and an initial letter andnumerals indicating the name of the user of the form, all permanentlyplaced thereon for the purposes fully described and set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JETLEE B. NORDHEM. lVitnesses:

M. E. FERGUSON, M. H. L. WING.

